Sydney again ranked number one in international rankings

SYDNEY: Business Events Sydney (BESydney) CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith today announced that the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranked Sydney 1st in Australia and 25th in the world.

Ms Lewis-Smith said that this is the first year that ICCA has reported on business events held in Sydney without an operating international convention centre.

“Sydney is again leading the way, ranked 1st in Australia and 25th in the world for international conferences.

"During construction of International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) many high profile events have been held in venues ranging from Western Sydney through to the Central Business District (CBD).

"Large scale events included the 105th Rotary International Convention and the IUCN World Parks Congress,” Ms Lewis-Smith said.

The ICC Sydney is due for completion in December 2016, increasing Sydney’s capacity to hold large international events which boost the economy.

Sydney’s closest Australian competitor is ranked 37th in the world according to ICCA’s rankings, 12 places lower than Sydney.

Ms Lewis-Smith paid tribute to the work of her team at BESydney for securing these ICCA results. She confirmed that the strong reputation of the university and research sectors in New South Wales (NSW) have supported international decision makers to choose Sydney for many leading conferences.

“BESydney has delivered more than A$1 billion economic impact for NSW over the past five years by securing big international business events.

Ms Lewis-Smith confirmed that Sydney is now ranked 7th in the Asia Pacific and that Australia’s global ranking moved up three places to 13th.

“Sydney shines again in these international rankings having held 82 international meetings last year.

“Looking ahead, BESydney has secured more than 20 events for ICC Sydney and close to 100 additional events across the State.

“These international events will deliver $277 million in direct economic expenditure which is new money that will support thousands of jobs across Western Sydney, the CBD and our regions.

“These international meetings will deliver the highest yield visitors who spend up to 4.5 times more than a regular holiday tourist, so they’re vital to our economy,” said Ms Lewis-Smith.

International business delegates are also catalysts for trade, investment, innovation and knowledge exchange which drives productivity.

Ms Lewis-Smith confirmed that later this month BESydney will release a new report, Asian incentive events in NSW: expenditure and retail impact, which charts huge growth in the Asian market including tips for small businesses to capture a greater share to boost their turnover.